This was one of many 'articles' I wrote for COVVI that I had to write in quick succession to support the launch of their new website. The below was probably the first of these but was tasked with retroactively writing pieces that would fill out this business' journey.
Collectively, COVVI spans a distance of 4880 miles and has achieved this within 18 months without having even commercially launched its product. But where in the world did it all begin?
Upon the partnership between Ted Varley and Simon Pollard being established, the pair commenced business in a converted inner-city villa called Denison Hall in Leeds. Although a beauty to look upon, it wasn’t exactly what came to mind when imagining a base for ‘ground-breaking prosthetics technology’. Nevertheless, this was home from COVVI’s inception in the Spring of 2017 up until the Summer of 2018.
It was here that COVVI formed its seminal engineering team, former colleagues of Ted’s who were ready to take a leap of faith into a whole new world. It was here where the team ate breakfast together in the large communal kitchen and where they first established the engineering plans for what would be eventually become the Nexus Hand. After a while, with designs becoming more and more refined, the team began to grow out of the Denison Hall apartments and collectively decided it was time for a purpose-built space, where they could carry out the next phase of the production process.
Direct House in Hunslet, Leeds was purchased in February 2018, but it wasn’t until August came around that they could finally move all of their gear across and officially call it home. Here, they had the space for product assembly, storage, and room to expand the workforce. Even today, the brains and brawn of the current team who have brought the Nexus Hand to fruition and will see it through to commercial release represent but a pioneering cohort of what is planned to be an international organization. For the guys at base, now settled in their space and eagerly awaiting plans to develop it further, this is where they will stay put (for now at least).
Having said this, COVVI’s growth doesn’t just stop in Leeds: since November 2018, COVVI has also been operating in San Antonio, Texas, having recently bought a property over there. This second location will host the US operations and will also act as the polestar of our fledgeling customer base, both stateside and around the rest of the world. Our savvy and determined sales team, already well-established in the prosthetics field, are ready to put Covvi on the map in America and launch us as a global player within the industry. From here, COVVI USA will deliver world-class customer service to complement a world-class product, that hopefully before long the whole world will be able to see for itself. As always here at COVVI we aspire for greatness: in the eyes of patients, clinicians, prosthetics businesses, research and development engineers, and more. Not just in the UK or the US, but everywhere. We’d love to expand into Japan, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and mainland Europe but it needn’t stop there either. We believe in ourselves and the COVVI vision and dare to dream of a world where COVVI is a household name for prosthetics. We hope that you’ll join us in our hopefulness for the future, and in time be able to actually see a Nexus Hand in person for yourself, no matter where you are.